It’s been quite a year! We had our usual SEMA trip, covered some interesting races, and even did a little bit of traveling for some grass roots drifting. I braved a storm in Brandon Wicknick’s trailer, and got a ride in his pro level drift car. I chatted with celebrities, and got to see a friend making a living doing arguably the coolest job in the world. I think we had a fun filled year, but for me the highlight was covering the Pirelli World Challenge.

Sports car racing is something I’ve always been a huge fan of, especially GT racing. Le Mans, Daytona and Sebring are some of my bucket list events. I missed out on the ALMS stops when they came through Miller, so I always thought I would have to travel to see some big league GT racing. Then I saw Miller Motorsports Park’s event list. At the Utah Grand Prix, along side the Porsches and Stock Cars, would be the Pirelli World Challenge. I instantly applied for credentials, and then was told I needed to apply closer to the event, instead of four months early. So I waited. And waited. And waited.

I applied a month before the event, and was approved. I was very excited, and nervous. This wasn’t a NASA event, this was one of the biggest road racing series in America! With international manufacturers! And television coverage! Years ago I got to shoot a Mountain West Conference men’s basketball game at the University of Utah. That was big, because even mediocre college basketball is bigger than road racing is in this country. The World Challenge was bigger to me, because I cared more about it than I did that basketball game. I also had to attend mandatory media meetings for the race weekend.

It was here that I finally met one Chance Hales, whose work I had been seeing for a little while, East Coast shooter Shawn Pierce and Gavin Pouquette. It was awesome to meet up with new people who share the same passion. The four of us had a good time. At least I did. We talked about racing, race tracks, and cars in general. It was one of the best weekend I’ve ever had at Miller. It was also interesting in that I got to see how serious the regular shooters of the series were.

One of the cars stalled at the start of the GT class race, causing a a multi-car incident that took a long time to clean up. I took this opportunity to lighten the situation, which did not go over well. Death glares from the regulars. Apparently everyone wanted to keep it deathly serious, except for me. I thought it was funny, and I was having the time of my life.

And there you have it, that was my highlight from 2014. I am truly blessed to say that this is my job, that I take pictures of cars and write some words about them. I look forward to bringing you more pictures and words about racing cars, show cars, every day cars and whatever else kind of cars we come across in 2015.

Words and photos by Michael Chandler

*Article and Photos are copyright of CAMautoMag.Com and their respective owners.

There once was a time where you would see an advertisement for a vehicle, and that ad would tell you about the vehicle. Now we have a three minute music video about a minivan (which is a rehash of a four year old video they did… FOR THE SAME VAN!) and YouTube channels filled with videos that are just commercials that didn’t make the cut. I understand advertising is a tricky business, but do we really need these ridiculous productions for, to be honest, rather mundane products? I don’t think so.

Here’s a commercial for a Honda Odyssey. It’s a short spot, but it shows off the van. It’s ridiculous, but not three minutes of ridiculous and it doesn’t have a past-his-prime Busta Rhymes in it. No swag, no sixteen bars, just thirty seconds of “Here’s a van, and some ridiculousness, but mostly a van.”

“But Michael,” you’re saying “the swagger wagon commercial is funny!” Sure, it is. That’s your opinion, and you can run with it all you like; however, I disagree with your opinion. I don’t think it’s funny. I can see that it can be, but not for me. Here’s a funnier series of commercials:

It’s funny because we’ve all wanted to do that to some peoples’ cars, and it works as an ad because it’s saying “The Mark 5 GTi is better than your homemade whatever”. It has a message other than “swagger wagon” and “we’re suburban parents who fall asleep at 10:30pm.” Volkswagen has some of the best ads, hands down. They’re entertaining, and they make a point without beating you over the head with a shtick or talking down to you.

Kia, in addition to building cars that aren’t terrible, are making some good commercials as well. Entertaining, and just informative enough to make you look at an Optima. or a K900, or Adriana Lima…

The American manufacturers have had some solid spots as well…

And also some odd ones…

And ones where they don’t seem like they’re trying.

I understand that commercials for everything have to hit certain criteria, which is different for everyone making the ads and for everything being advertised. I’m not demanding that all new vehicle commercials from here on out be thirty seconds of entertainment bliss, or that we outlaw Dennis Leary from yelling over another Ford truck commercial. I’m not even asking Toyota abandon the whole “swagger wagon” thing (although I think they might want to think about it); no, I’m pointing out that that video is ridiculous. It doesn’t push the van, doesn’t make it cooler or more appealing. Are you afraid buying a minivan will make you less cool to your kids, who will for a long time think that you aren’t and never were and never will be cool? Don’t buy the one that refers to itself as a “swagger wagon”, that will only exacerbate the situation. If you desperately need to buy something that can haul people AND things, then buy something that society has agreed is cool.

Words by Michael Chandler

*Article and Photos are copyright of CAMAutoMag.Com and their respective owners.

I have been given a lot of grief lately. Actually, hate. Hate is a strong word, right? It’s suitable here. Many people consider themselves car people only if they live and breathe race fuel. Obviously that’s not the case as you can be into cars and only be into the aesthetic aspect. Here at CAMautoMag, we tend to focus on the racing aspect of cars and so many were shocked to find out that I had traded in my petrol-powered vehicle for…a Nissan LEAF.

You heard me right, a full-electric car. I work from home and my wife stays home with our daughter, for short jaunts around town, this car is perfect for us. So have I jumped off the deep end, I don’t think so. The car is torquey and up to 30-40mph, it feels pretty quick. Sure the steering is numb, but you don’t need an electric car to get that. I still own a V10 Dodge Viper and a turbocharged Honda S2000, and now a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, so I still love cars, but I wanted to try something different.

In spire of the hate, this car has a legitimate racing pedigree. It won it’s class at Pike Peak in 2011. Nissan developed a full-on race car based on the LEAF to showcase what could be done with it. Nismo even developed a special edition model that is soon to be released that decreases drag and weight on the car. They are dedicating the time now, because there will be a day when electric cars are more prevalent. I’m not saying it’s the solution by any means, but we are trending that way in the short-term.

Can I still have fun with this car over the next 2 years? Well I already have wheels for it, so that’s a start. This car requires a different mindset than a traditional car, and it’s not for everyone, but I think there is great potential in the future for an electric or hybrid performance vehicle. Mitsubishi has toyed with the idea for the next Evolution, Ferrari and McLaren are all-in on hybrid systems in their new supercars, so why is it that I take for all intensive purposes, a Nissan Versa with some batteries, and get hate? I feel that people don’t understand its purpose, but here I am, I’ve jumped in, I’ll let you know if the water is fine over the next year or two.

It’s the inaugural Austin 400 V8 Supercars race, and as a group Trent, Cherp, James and myself decided to chip in and come down. We’re going to be down here until Monday, and at the track today and tomorrow. We flew in yesterday and went straight to the track. Here’s a brief run down of events preceding and during our trip to Circuit of the Americas here in Austin.

Cherp flew in to Salt Lake from Seattle. He did some prodigious foursquare-ing, and proceeded to creep on us at the terminal in Salt Lake until we found him. Him, Jamie and myself grabbed some coffee before boarding. Unfortunately we were separated during the flight, and they got a window on their aisle. Cherp and I were left to entertain ourselves…

Naturally, when we deplaned, we were greeted by a bar.

It was then time to procure the rental mobile. We were getting a Focus, or something “similar”.

The idea of the Focus gave Jamie a stroke… Or something…

…while Cherp seemed just delighted by the prospect of the Focus.

Similar? YOU BET! Similar price? the BMW was $50 more PER DAY. So we opted for the Focus, which we have claimed as our own. And then we were off!

She’s a sight to behold.

You know who was excited to get in? JAMIE!

We were greeted with raucous backfire from the Aussies and Kiwis during the practice session we watched. We were then treated to a practice session from one of the support series: IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup, where we noticed some familiar cars from Miller Motorsports Park.

Words and photos by Michael Chandler

*Article and Photos are copyright of CAMAutoMag.Com and their respective owners. Images and words may not be re-posted, re-distributed, modified, or copied without expressed written consent from CAMAutoMag.Com.

This year has been full of highs and lows. We’ve traveled, we’ve changed things up, added new crew members, lost one important one, and we keep striving through it all.

This year was the most I’ve ever traveled for work before. This site, believe it or not, doesn’t pay the bills. So all of our trips mostly came out of my pocket(thanks to those who chipped in). It was all worth it though, we got to meet some great people, many who are now friends, see/shoot/film some amazing cars, and generally live the dream. Between all the car sites I manage CAMautoMag was the first and holds dear to my heart even though sometimes the other sites get more attention.

This next year we will focus more on racing and hardcore motorsports to further refine what the site is about and keep our core audience happy. We always have [func-shun] for those interested in show cars and the scene surrounding it. Of course we’ll be camping out at the race track in the CAMotorhome this summer to ensure you get more racing coverage and features of those pure-bred track cars.

This year we lost our own, Johnny Northrop, and I often think about texting him or seeing a car he’d love and sending him a picture. He will be missed, and he didn’t want anyone to know he was suffering, he was always putting on a happy face, so we will do the same this next year.

More effort has been put into our Facebook page this year and it is the best place to stay up to date with us. We also maintain our Twitter and Foursquare and occasionally our Pinterest. We’re really everywhere you are. Follow along as we continue this journey.

Hooray for the six of us who enjoy World Challenge!: Jalopnik broke the news that the glorious GT3 spec race cars of Europe will be racing in the SCCA Pirelli World Challenge. What does this mean? Which cars are GT3s? Who has the edge: the WC GT cars or the GT3s? Let’s start by introducing our new guests’ family.

Photo credit: Getty Images

GT3 started out as a production based Pro-Am series, fielded by privateers in customer cars. GT1 (C6.R, DBR9s) and GT2 (911 GT3 RSR, M3 GTs) reigned above GT3 for several years, until some things happened. Notably GT1 breathing its last breath. Now GT3 has sub classes for pro-pro and pro-am drivers, and is raced all over the world in various series: British GT, SUPER GT GT 300, Grand Am GT and some others.

Now that that’s covered, let’s talk about what kind of cars you’ll see in addition to the usual World Challenge GT fare.

(There are four classes in World Challenge, but we’re going to focus on the GT class because it’s the top tier class and is probably where the GT3 cars will land)

Photo credit: Mark Weber

The GT field has some serious metal: Cadillac CTS-V.Rs, 911 GT3 Cups, Audi R8s and… Volvo S60’s? Before you scoff at the Swedes just know they finished second in the manufacturer’s points behind Cadillac and ahead of Nissan, Corvette AND Porsche! It’s a stacked, and rather diverse field, but it’s not as deep as the GT3 field: 10 different models for WC GT compared to 13 for GT3. And whereas the WC GT field features (dare I say) pedestrian fare, the GT3 field has more exotics. 458s, Gallardos, even Ford GTs are still legal and McLaren announced the MP4-12C GT3 recently. Almost seems unfair…

Where will they fit in? Who knows. As it stands we just know the GT3 cars are coming and the World Challenge cars will be legal in other series across the world. What may happen is they new cars will push the current cars out like they did in GT 300, which would be sad because the current cars are pretty cool. Or they may create a new class for them, or they might just all get along. Either way, we’re gonna see some awesome match ups.

photo credit: hkedwardtong on flickr

Lets take a look at the top two GT cars against the top two GT3 cars we end up with CTS-V.R vs. SLS AMG and S60 vs. 458. One is far more interesting than the other: the one with the Volvo. Why? Because the S60s have beat out 430GTs, R8s and 911s, so out gunning a 458 isn’t too far fetched.

We’ll also get to see how Cadillac stands up to international competition, and then there will be McLarens against Lamborghinis and Aston Matrins. It’ll be like Forza or Gran Turismo or the SPEED channel, except in person and with other races! This is a golden age my friends.

Now if only we can get the Trans Am series going again…

Words by Michael Chandler, photos as credited. Special thanks to Fred Smith, aka @porsche914yr74 on twitter and on Jalopnik for his article where I got the information about GT3

*Article, photos and video are copyright of CAMautoMag.com and their respective owners. Images and words may not be re-posted, re-distributed, modified or copied without expressed written consent from CAMautoMag.com

Before Trent, Tommy and Dave abandoned me left for their SF trip, Dave and I went up to his storage unit to grab some stuff that he had sold/is selling. Now, we’ve known Dave for many years but this provided a look into… Well, we already knew this but here’s a chance for you to get a little glimpse into what is going on in Dave’s unit, nay head… STORAGE UNIT!!! MIND!!! Stupid double entendres…

He has three cars in there in various states of togetherness. A SN95 Mustang Cobra (theft recovery), a Mitsubishi Starion TSi (on its second head gasket) and his FC RX7 convertible (no engine, but no drive shaft either). The Starion is the closest thing to a drivable car in there, which makes sense considering it was the last thing put in there.

He also has remnants of projects past in there, such as the “Ghetto Bastard” CRX which sported an exhaust off of an EF Civic sedan.

Dave has a lot of goofy, weird stuff in his garage, which makes sense because Dave (like the rest of us) is a goofy, weird guy. We’re proud to have Dave on board, and we’re rather excited to see what he pulls out of his head/unit next. STORAGE UNIT! Son of a!…

Words and photos by Michael Chandler

*Article, Video, and Photos are copyright of CAMautoMag.Com and their respective owners. Images and words may not be re-posted, re-distributed, modified, or copied without expressed written consent from CAMautoMag.Com

It’s been busy here at CAMautoMag, even if the site doesn’t seem to reflect that. We’re busy with a canyon cruise coming up and working on new ideas for the site. Yesterday I decided I needed to show what our day was like.

I got working about 9am uploading and spreading the word about by latest [func-shun] video. But the day really started off about 11am when Mike(he gets a late start) needed to take his brother’s ailing Nissan Altima down to Nip N’ Tuck Performance. This was convenient since Dustin made some changes to the shop and wanted us to come down and see what was new. I wisely made the decision to bring my least reliable vehicle(the Viper) to play support vehicle.

The showroom was looking nice and we documented the changes, enjoyed some of Dustin’s wife’s chocolate chip cookies with double stuff Oreo’s inside(hint to any other shops wanting features, MOAR cookies!), and challenged the crew to finish the laundry list of problems on Mike’s brother’s car in 1 hour. At this point we were joined by Dave who literally lives a stone’s throw from Nip N’ Tuck and Tommy dropped by during his “lunch break”.

In just one hour and 17 minutes, the job was complete! During this time Dave and I decided to switch cars to something less brutal(the CC). Upon our return, we broke out the video cameras for a healthy combination of magic and awkwardness. By the time that was done, we had to head to pick up some food and get to a previously scheduled shoot.

And what a shoot it was! Expect it next week. The Nissan Juke that wanted to pass, backed off after these flames were spitting game. We’d planned to hit the late night drag races at the track and had an hour or so to kill after the shoot, so we did what car guys do and headed to my house to play Forza 4. We met Tommy back out at the track along with some more car friends and managed to clear out an entire section of the track with our loud, obnoxious banter, but we had to support a couple local Evo’s that are easily 10-second cars, but fear of breaking parts lead to 12.1 and 12.0 second runs.

After the races, we hit up everyone’s favorite late night eatery, Denny’s where, like men, we enjoyed hot chocolate and breakfast fare.

We rolled out and went our separate ways from there, but we all got home about 3:30-4am after starting at 11:30am. More days like this need to happen. And now, some parting shots of the crew.

John (Mustang Johnny) Northrop passed away July 20, 2012 at the young age of 43 from pneumonia brought on by complications of sarcoma cancer. He was the life of any conversation and was never rude or unkind despite your automotive views. He was affectionately known as “Mustang Johnny”, but had a soft spot for Mercedes-Benz, particularly the V12 kind, Triumph Tr8’s, and 930 Porsche’s. Quite an eclectic mix. He respected all makes and models, but always kept a Mustang close at hand.

Mustangs are how I first came to meet John. I was at an autocross event for Mustangs and saw an immaculate 5.0 Saleen Mustang running the course and instantly loved the license plate, ‘3 OH 2’. It wasn’t until some time later that I would actually meet John, but I’d started to hear good things about him after that day.

I was fortunate enough to be able to work alongside him for a couple years at Dr. Gas Exhaust. We would spend most of our day, while working, talking about Family Guy quotes and dream car scenarios. I’d throw out some exotic car, and John would come back with something more realistic like a 2002 Mercedes-Benz C230 Coupe, modified of course.

John is the best story-teller I have ever met! Oftentimes, after John had moved to a job closer to his home, a co-worker and I would call John up and ask him to tell us a story. Sounds childish, but the stories he’d come up with were mesmerizing. It was this storytelling ability that led me to want to bring Johnny on board here at CAMautoMag. Mike and I founded it, but John was the first person we brought on outside of ourselves. His personality and love of all cars was the perfect compliment to us. We were fortunate enough a few weeks ago to have Johnny write one last story for us. He was in high spirits and doing well and wanting to write. He wrote the $30K Check article about the Porsche Cayenne Turbo, one I completely agree with. We were so lucky to have him on board with us at CAMautoMag, and he made a huge impact on the car community at large.

When John was diagnosed with cancer over a year ago, he was in high spirits, he knew he was going to beat it. After the initial surgery, I brought him ice cream and a Porsche Excellence magazine. He even told me to not tell people, because he could look back at this later. We were at the time filming the video podcasts. We had stopped to re-tool, but when this happened, I knew I didn’t want to continue until Johnny was feeling better. He said by summer he’d be out at the track racing his Mustang Champ Car Pace Car. He did make it out to the track, but not to race.

I would text John to ask how he was doing, and he often wouldn’t respond. He didn’t want to dwell on that. However, if I text him a hypothetical car situation, he’d always respond. Cars were his passion and dream and I was fortunate enough to share in that with him. He was the one who suggested changing the ‘Letter from the Editor’ to ‘The CAM Journal’. A wise choice. The world has lost a local legend, and he will forever be missed!

John is survived by his wife and 4 children, parents, and 3 sisters.. In lieu of flowers, the family is taking donations to a memorial account in John’s name at any Mountain America Credit Union.

-Trent Bray

Here are the articles John contributed to the site, as well as the video podcasts he joined.

With a scant five and a half-ish months until the release of the Subaru/Toyota lovechild, let us take a look at what I like about the BRZ: the one I’m signing up for.

Likes:

Let’s start with the numbers we care about: the two-liter, direct-injection flat four will produce around 200hp and 170lb/ft of torque. It will be backed by either a six-speed manual or a six-speed auto, but not a trick twin clutch unit. It’ll be the same trans that the IS350 has: conventional planetary automatic with paddles shifters on the steering wheel. More on that later… It also weighs around 2700lbs, which is 500lbs less than a WRX and 200lbs more than a Miata (which makes 30hp less).

The price isn’t too bad either, around $25,000. That’s right in line with the Miata Touring (middle of the range Miata). A 370Z starts at $31,000, as does a BMW 128i, and an IS250 is $35,000.

It’s been designed to be a true driver’s car. Low-slung boxer four, shoved as far back as they can, ABS and stability have been tuned to limit electronic intervention, and a power to weight ratio of 12.5 lbs per hp. Hell, the press release is hitting the right notes.

Dislike:

Ok, 200hp is nice but Subaru has made a name by force feeding air down the gullet of their flat fours. Where’s the turbo? For a little over $22,000 I can have a Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0T, which makes a little more power. For about $27,000 I can get a 300hp 3.8L Genesis Coupe. Not bad options…

The automatic transmission option is pretty weak. This is a sports car, why not give it a twin clutch unit? Or how about making another transmission like the one in the LFA’s?

It looks good, but it’s not aggressive enough. Now this would be a problem, but thankfully Subaru is ahead of us and built a bad ass GT300 racer!

Verdict:

Yeah, I’m in. I’m in before the STI version comes out. It’s an affordable, naturally aspirated, rear wheel drive option in a segment where the Miata has been king for… Well, ever. Are there cheaper options available? Cheaper AND more powerful, but while I like the Genesis Coupe I don’t feel a connection to it. I’ve got a Subaru now, and while it’s somewhat sketchy (worlds fastest massage chair!) it’s mine and I love driving the thing. I’m loyal to the stars. That might make me definitely makes me biased, but to hell with it. Sign me and my bias up!!!

-Michael Chandler

*Article, Video, and Photos are copyright of CAMautoMag.Com and their respective owners. Images and words may not be re-posted, re-distributed, modified, or copied without expressed written consent from CAMautoMag.Com